harfman77

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 04:00 PM) Nobody wants David Freese. I don't think it's far fetched to say that most people here prefer Gillaspie to Freese. Given the state of the Sox, I'd much, much rather have Conor Gillaspie than David Freese. Freese is still a better baseball player than Conor Gillaspie. The numbers have all been laid out for you. It really couldn't be any clearer. Agree, Freese does nothing for this team. He is not the missing piece of the puzzle and is arb eligible. Gillaspie is serviceable until a long term solution can be found. Not sure what the Cards have that match up with the Sox needs. The Sox need long term solutions at CF and 3B, plus to back fill any positions they trade in the off season (SS).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) We only have one open spot on the 40 man roster. If they pick up Perez, they would conceivably then need to DFA Flowers opening up another spot.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:45 PM) Not advocating trading for Freese but the guy was injured last year. Even so, he has never had a season where he was less than average. I would take him if he were LH.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:16 PM) Rosenthal reporting that the Cards are looking for OF depth in exchange for Freese. DeAza for Freese? Makes a lot of sense to me, but I seem to like Freese a lot ,ore than most here. They must mean depth as in minor league OF help. Their OF is already full and their #1 prospect is waiting in the wings.

Hatley and Colvin are interesting. Colvin was a big prospect and needs a new set of eyes to fix him. Either of those guys could serve in the swing role this season and probably provide better value than the fillers that Hahn will have to sign to fill out the bullpen. Perez would be an upgrade defensively and its hard to imagine he could be much of a downgrade offensively.

Paulie is back if Hahn can deal Dunn by the winter meetings, otherwise it makes no sense for him to be back to take AB's away from Dunn in the case he is going to be dealt or given a QO next off season.

Braun not being dealt. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/11/brew...ryan-braun.html

Could see a three way change of scenery trade where Kemp and a spect go to the Brewers, Braun goes to team X, and pitching goes to the Dodgers.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 09:11 AM) Yes, build your team around pitching and defense while continuing to bring in prospects. The idea is that, eventually, you will have the players at the MLB level to build around. This year Donaldson was their best player, but it's not as if the rest of their roster was chopped liver. They had a ton of good players. They are on different levels as players, but dealing Quintana for a similar package as to what the A's got for Gonzalez wouldn't be a good start. I don't think the Sox want a rebuild that drawn out though. I think the pitching and defense, while I agree is a good philosophy, is a lot easier to execute in Oaklands park than it is in the Cell.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:08 AM) It seems like it should be, but when you look at how guys perform in both situations, there's little to no difference. It's just how it is, people have been TRYING to find an effect for a very long time. It is pretty impossible to prove, because if a player has protection, there is no way to measure what his performance would be without it and if he doesn't have it what it would be if he did.

This is a great trade for Texas, it gives them something that the franchise is void of in a power LH bat, with not much in the system to help out and they deal from their organizations deepest position. Fielders numbers have been hindered playing in Detroit while Kinslers were propped up playing in Arlington. Texas gets Fielder for less than they were committed to paying Kinsler over the next three seasons and at a rate that is below market value. It makes sense in the short term for both teams as they can now both slide their top prospects into everyday roles and reduce what they would have needed to spend in FA. This is a much better acquisition than what signing McCann would have been and it saves Texas money in the short term so they can find OF and SP help.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 12:33 PM) The question is, are you willing to bet $110+ million on where that production will be with no steroids? The article indicated the Brewers would assume a significant chunk of that, so it depends what portion is left that you are gambling.

The book on Flowers is the same as when he was acquired - improved defense, immense power, but doesn't make enough contact to make that power count. The book on Phegley out of college is that his bat would play, but there were questions whether or not he would ever be adequate defensively to play C in the majors. I think Phegley can still be a productive C in the league and that as R he has a lot thrown at him trying to learn to call games against a whole new group of players. I would take a chance on a platoon partner for Phegley to take some of the pressure off for this season and let him get more acclimated. I think Flowers is what he is, a backup with good pop, Phegley has a chance to be an average C, which is really all we need from that spot now.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 09:41 AM) The absolute, 100% worst thing you do with Marcus Semien is use him in a utility role. If he is a utility player coming out of Spring Training, I would personally consider driving to Chicago to request that Rick Hahn and Robin Ventura take a urinary analysis, because they would need to be high as s*** to keep Semien on the bench at the MLB level It depends on the number of at bats he if going to get, a lot like Profar with the Rangers. He can platoon at 3B and spell the SS and 2B on other days. Its a way to immerse him without throwing him completely to the wolves. If he can not get consistent at bats, then you're right he doesn't fit on the club.

I expect Keppinger, Santiago, Reed, and Ramirez will be dealt. It makes no sense to move Viciedo now as his value is as low as its ever been. Beckham and Semien can battle for 2B and the other will fill the UT role that Keppinger has. Ramirez value will go up after Drew signs.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 10:20 AM) It puts off the catching disaster for another year, and allows the Sox to work for another year to find a permanent solution back there. I would still rather go with a full season of Phegley. He has a history of being a slow starter at each level and would rather give him a full year the way that Flowers was before moving on from him altogether. He at least presents the opportunity to be a long term solution, and if not you can deal for a long term solution as you continue to develop assets. If AJ gets up from 65-75 wins next season, is he worth it. If we are going to be drafting in the top 10, it might as well be as high as possible and be able to have as much bonus money as possible instead of limiting yourself by throwing out short term solutions with no long term implications in mind. If Phegley can show he handle the load next season, you have a long term solution and more money to spend to bring in additional talent.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 18, 2013 -> 10:02 PM) What would be wrong with signing AJ for 4 million, one year? He'd be vital in helping our pitching staff. Bring him in as a stopgap. 1. AJ is not signing for that. 2. What is the point of a veteran stopgap on a rebuilding team? If he was the missing piece it would make all the sense in the world, but with multiple areas to improve the short term value is minimal and it is detrimental in the long term.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2013 -> 03:09 PM) No its not. Teams' values are evaluated and estimated by evaluating all of their known assets and liabilities. There is a reason a team is worth close to $1 billion. It isn't because they lose money or break even every year. They always seem able to add money to the payroll when they claim they are maxed out. The key here is the White Sox have very little debt, unlike a lot of teams. Yes, but the Sox also own a lot of real estate that other teams do not as well. The valuation is based mostly non-liquid assets. The Sox have a pretty poor TV contract for a team in a market of this size and that is a major hindrance from the team being able to spend a lot of money.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 18, 2013 -> 03:01 PM) I think we should look at the Sox as a billion dollar business and not a mom and pop outfit. And looking at it as a business, there is nothing out there worth investing in currently. Any game changing free agents are going to impact future fluidity of the business while bringing no guarantee of increasing revenue. The FO is doing things the right way, the Abreu signing was a lot of risk, but the potential rewards are enormous, and two years from now that asset could look like a bargain. The Sox are better off investing that money in developing future assets, through the draft and international free agency, and carrying any excess revenue over into next offseason where there are going to be three legitimate 3b options to complement a team that should have a majority of the rest of the roster in place by then. The best course of action is to sit back and make everyone available and see what return you can get for your current assets, if you feel you can get someone in the open market place to pay a premium for some of your current assets, you can make a deal, but making a deal just to shuffle the deck makes little sense.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 18, 2013 -> 01:54 PM) Our best, closest to the majors prospects are all MI, I'd be shocked if went outside the organization to replace Beckham without giving the Semien/Garcia/Sanchez/Johnson team a shot first. Isn't Murphy a 3B who was forced to 2B with the presence of David Wright? I would take him. Not sure what it would cost for his last two arb years as he will probably make around $6M this season and who knows next season. The Mets are also looking at moving D'Arnaud from previous reports, so maybe a deal that could fill two holes.

I think it is a good pick up. He was a pretty highly thought of prospect at one time and is still only 25, he has a chance to rebound into a decent player and could be a platoon partner at 3B.

Jaso is one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball. He is bat is decent, but no way should the Sox give up anything of substantive value for someone who is likely to make the best part of your team worse. There is a reason he keeps getting traded.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 14, 2013 -> 04:10 PM) That's a terrible argument. That's like saying "Why would we trade for Mike Stanton when we could just sign Marlon Bryd to a 3 year deal. 3 years vs. 3 years, and you have to give up something for Stanton." Except the difference is that Stanton will actually command a gigantic contract, Wieters won't. I don't know why people think we could sign Brian McCann for $15M a year, yet Wieters we could not afford to bring back. The other piece is that the Sox have a lot more leverage in negotiations on a long term deal because it does not cost them a draft pick, but it will anyone else who tries to sign him. And I dont think there is anyway that a 29 year old Boras client will accept a QO. He will likely be looking for a deal around 5/$75M at that point. I think it makes sense due to the upside possibilities, obviously depending on what the O's would need in return.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 14, 2013 -> 03:36 PM) I'm not saying he would hit; I'm saying you have to see if he can hit and if he has the defensive tools to cut it at shortstop every day. Really, do you want to do that sort of thing when the team is actually competitive, only to see it fail and cost you big time down the road (as Brian Anderson did in 2006)? The question is if he fails, then what? There are many options in the pipe to help out. It is a risk, but if you are planning on a big re-build it is probably one you take. I think Ramirez is probably the player most likely to be moved as I think there will several teams looking to upgrade the position this offseason and he probably has a much or more value as any veteran on the club.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 14, 2013 -> 11:56 AM) He's not a buy low candidate. No way Angelos would allow that. To get Matt Weiters, you are going to have to pay a pretty penny. Then you dont buy. But after this season his value took a hit, so the marketplace will likely reflect that. The only player that I know Angelos has a special affinity for is Markakis, and probably now Machado, but if he gets in the way of a deal, theres nothing you can do. I would still pursue it and see what the deal to be made looks like.